Bits Bucket for December 25, 2013
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Profit Has Improved The Human Condition
By WALTER E. WILLIAMS
Posted 12/17/2013 06:54 PM ET
Pope Francis, in an apostolic exhortation, has levied charges against free market capitalism.
He denied that “economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world” and concluded that “this opinion . .. has never been confirmed by the facts.” He went on to label unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny.”
Let’s look at the pope’s tragic vision.
First, I acknowledge that capitalism fails miserably when compared with heaven or a utopia. Any earthly system is going to come up short in such a comparison.
However, mankind must make choices among alternative economic systems that actually exist on earth. For the common man, capitalism is superior to any system yet devised to deal with his everyday needs and desires.
Capitalism is relatively new in human history. Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. With the rise of capitalism, it became possible to amass great wealth by serving and pleasing your fellow man.
Capitalists seek to discover what people want and produce and market it as efficiently as possible as a means to profit.
A couple of examples would be J.D. Rockefeller, whose successful marketing drove kerosene prices down from 58 cents a gallon in 1865 to 7 cents in 1900. Henry Ford became rich by producing cars for the common man. Both Ford’s and Rockefeller’s personal benefits pale in comparison with that received by the common man by having cheaper kerosene and cheaper transportation.
There are literally thousands of examples of how mankind’s life has been made better by those in the pursuit of profits.
Here’s my question to you: Are people who, by their actions, created unprecedented convenience, longer life expectancy and a more pleasant life for the ordinary person — and became wealthy in the process — deserving of all the scorn and ridicule heaped upon them by intellectuals, politicians and now the pope?
Let’s examine the role of profits but first put it in perspective in terms of magnitude. Between 1960 and 2012, after-tax corporate profit averaged a bit over 6% of the gross domestic product, while wages averaged 47% of the GDP.
Far more important than simple statistics about the magnitude of profits is its role in guiding resources to their highest-valued uses and satisfying people.
Try polling people with a few questions. Ask them what services they are more satisfied with and what they are less satisfied with. On the “more satisfied” list would be profit-making enterprises, such as supermarkets, theaters, clothing stores and computer stores. They’d find less satisfaction with services provided by nonprofit government organizations, such as public schools, post offices and departments of motor vehicles.
Profits force entrepreneurs to find ways to please people in the most efficient ways or go out of business. Of course, they can mess up and stay in business if they can get government to bail them out or give them protection against competition.
Nonprofits have an easier time of it. Public schools, for example, continue to operate whether they do a good job or not and whether they please parents or not. That’s because politicians provide their compensation through coercive property taxes.
I’m sure that we’d be less satisfied with supermarkets if they, too, had the power to take our money through taxes, as opposed to being forced to find ways to get us to voluntarily give them our earnings.
Arthur C. Brooks, president at the American Enterprise Institute and author of “Who Really Cares,” shows that Americans are the most generous people on the face of the earth.
In fact, if you look for generosity around the world, you find virtually all of it in countries that are closer to the free market end of the economic spectrum than they are to the socialist or communist end.Seeing as Pope Francis sees charity as a key part of godliness, he ought to stop demonizing capitalism.
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=29297787
Great post! Now for the flames from the Merry band of “progressives.”
isn’t it strange that even the Pope doesn’t understand that he’s favoring godless communism?
it just shows that most people don’t understand how deeply ingrained communist ideology has become.
You must understand the real role of the Catholic church….. They are a tool of the statists. They work closely with Western govts to maintain control domestically and project power globally……. interfering with sovereign states and bleeding them dry. They’ve been co-opted and they’re nothing more than a counterfeit.
They’ve been co-opted and they’re nothing more than a counterfeit.
then he has to know that he’s intentionally damaging his own church. shows that evil can crop up anywhere.
The job of the Dope is to artfully maintain the power of the boy molester Catholic Church and destroy individualism with a very slow death so as to feed off of it. All statists do this. Without individual liberty creating capital, there would be no capital to loot.
Great insight there, Bill. It’s good to bear in mind that long before Adam Smith’s capitalism, there was a central government in control of much of Europe known as the Catholic Church. It didn’t go over well with church authorities when Martin Luther used Gutenberg’s printing press to disseminate a German edition of the Holy Bible which undercut papal authority.
Looking from the perspective of hundreds of years ago the bright thing about our evolution in social structures is that man is freeing himself from man. Governments hundreds of years ago hacked no need to say “our laws are for your own good” or “we are the freest country in the world” or “xyz is a capitalist society.”
These days governments have to lie.
To the extent the sheople do not know better, governments will get away with their lies. But humans gain better knowledge over generations and it is my firm opinion we will get to the point where at a far higher amount of our associations are voluntary mutual associations. In essence, we are evolving socially to non-aggressive societies - anarchies.
we are evolving socially to non-aggressive societies
and should that happen, any aggressive society will once again have the upper hand.
I don’t believe in utopias.
I don’t believe in utopias either. To people 500 years ago (and “treshos” contract law was utopian. The Bill of Rights also utopian.
I laugh at negative attitudes such as yours in regard to social advances.
I don’t believe in utopias either.
I don’t believe you. If you don’t believe in utopias, why do you keep promoting them?
I don’t believe in utopias.
i do. my utopia is where no authority takes anything from anyone. no government interventions anywhere in the private sector.
nothing is given away from any government. no subsidies. no bailouts. no handouts. nothing ever. nothing to anyone or any company. everything must be worked for.
the upside?
everything would be incredibly cheap. work become easier and over time. we could retire much younger with the dollars you could easily save. and the dollars you save would keep gaining value. everyone would be wealthier and those that couldn’t work would be taken care of by neighbors and friends, which would build a sense of community and caring. as a nation we would be so wealthy that generosity would come extremely easily.
living here would be the envy of the world. we would be free and happy.
my utopia.
I don’t believe you. If you don’t believe in utopias, why do you keep promoting them?
Frankly it doesn’t matter what you believe.
How is your price fixed, socialist utopia you so lovingly apologize for working out for you?
It is not a utopia when you live vonu voluntaryism. This does not mean you pay no taxes. It does mean you pay the least you can without going to prison. It is not utopian when all your associations are as mutually voluntar as possible, again to where you won’t go to prison for living your no coercive lifestyle.
There are a lot of sanctionings of statism you can remove. Marriage sanctions the state. Then 50% of all marriages fail. The state steps in again and makes one ex spouse miserable for years. Voting sanctions the state. Since elections are rigged, the state is confident of its longevity when tens of millions of people are voting because the duping worked. Paying more taxes than you “owe” sanctions the state. I am willing to bet most of you on this blog are overpaying annuall by several thousand dollars.
I treat others as I want to be treated, as free individuals with their right to life, liberty and property. Without coercion. I remove government from as much of m dealings as I possibly can.
I am working on removing more of my consent peacefully. There already are people who noncoercively live off the grid completely and operate as if government does not exist. I knew some since the 1990s.
Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man.
This alone discredits the entire article. Profit and competition can only flourish in an economy where there is a government to enforce basic safety and security and to outlaw corruption and theft of IP. Take away the governmental protections, and capitalism dies fast, e.g. the Somalia example.
And in case you haven’t noticed, some of those government protections have been dismantled over the past 30 years, and guess what. People HAVE amassed great wealth by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man.
I’m sure that we’d be less satisfied with supermarkets if they, too, had the power to take our money through taxes,
Lousy choice of example, Mr. Williams. Just a couple weeks ago the news ran a story where the price of milk was about to rise to $7/gallon if Congress didn’t renew the Farm Bill of agriculture subsidies. Without those taxes, the price of “capitalist” milk has a floor of ~$7/gallon even if there is competition. So presumably, grocery stores DO have an indirect power to take tax money and use that tax money to keep the price of the milk low. The news reporters were out polling people, and people were all UNsatisfied with “capitalist” $7/gallon milk.
Mr. Williams is referring to having rule of law, namely contract law, not rule of men, as the only way capitalism can flourish and make society enjoy the highest possible standard of living.
My biggest interest is in the works of 19th century jurist Lysander Spooner. He not only understood contracts fully, he was an anarchist, the first voluntaryist, and was obviously of the opinion you can have effective contract law without government.
oh the humanity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThUkPscsUEU
LOL their hearts were in it but I would not be proud to live in a garbage can or with cockroaches!
glad you got laugh….ok who is in the white shirt????
This alone discredits the entire article.
wrong again.
Profit and competition can only flourish in an economy where there is a government to enforce basic safety and security and to outlaw corruption and theft of IP.
wrong. the protection doesn’t have to come from federal or even state government. where government is weak, ineffectual, or essentially non-existent, places of trade hire their own security. but since government is needed for national defense, it should naturally include the individual defense of its citizens from any type of enemy, foreign or domestic. it is then also in a position to protect personal and property rights to the extent permitted by law. idiot bureaucrats and dumbed down citizens never understand this.
Take away the governmental protections, and capitalism dies fast, e.g. the Somalia example.
as said above, people that want to establish a trade area can hire their own security. to the extent citizens are protected, the economy can grow. to the extent they are regulated and taxed (or stolen from), the economy will shrink.
and in case you haven’t noticed, some of those government protections have been dismantled over the past 30 years, and guess what. People HAVE amassed great wealth by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man.
more drivel. get specific and i’ll show you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Just a couple weeks ago the news ran a story where the price of milk was about to rise to $7/gallon if Congress didn’t renew the Farm Bill of agriculture subsidies.
‘the news’ is as economically illiterate as you are. subsidies don’t lower prices, (despite what you believe) they cause prices to rise.
Without those taxes, the price of “capitalist” milk has a floor of ~$7/gallon even if there is competition.
taxes put a floor under prices? care to explain how that works?
So presumably, grocery stores DO have an indirect power to take tax money and use that tax money to keep the price of the milk low.
you presume wrong.
<bThe news reporters were out polling people, and people were all UNsatisfied with “capitalist” $7/gallon milk.
yes, i’m sure the socialist ‘news reporters’ were asking all the right questions. who doesn’t want lower prices? the problem is they have no clue how to get them. neither do you.
I believe Scandinavian countries give more to charity (on a per capita basis of course) than the US. But don’t let reality get in the way of your beliefs.
yes, of course lionel, n. korea, somolia, china, russia and all the rest of the socialist/communist, statist dictatorships are known for their generosity, aren’t they?
but don’t let your dogma get in the way of reality.
Old wine in new vases. Anyone who has read Charles Dickens recognizes this, though I doubt Rush Limbaugh is among them.
Depends on the type of profit:
1) Extractive profits extract wealth from the public and concentrate them in a business. Examples: Mafia, Angelo Mozilo.
2) Productive profits generate wealth and the wealth generator keeps a fraction of those profits. Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors
I hope all of you homeowners are having a wonderful Christmas and enjoying your homes. And for you renters, there’s hope for you yet. Maybe Santa brought you some cash this year, enough to put down a 3.5% down payment to get a FHA mortgage and buy a home.
I hope all of you homeowners are having a wonderful Christmas
and everyone else can rot, correct? no wonderful christmas for renters unless they can come up with a down payment. then they’ll be ok with you. what about those who can’t afford a down payment?
where is your shame amy?
“and everyone else can rot, correct?”
You got it, pal. America has Ownership Society members and personas non gratas (aka renters).
I would like to wish all those Deadbeat vampire homeowners who have not made a mortgage or rent payment since 2006 a very Merry Christmas.
‘Vampire’ foreclosures are what’s keeping bank inventory high, analyst says
October 2, 2013, 4:56 PM
These “vampire” properties are bank-owned foreclosed homes in which prior owners continue to live, as defined by RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.
Former owners live in 47% of U.S. bank-owned properties, according to RealtyTrac. These properties are “sucking the life out of the housing market,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2013/10/02/vampire-foreclosures-are-whats-keeping-bank-inventory-high-analyst-says/ - 41k
What Is a Vampire Foreclosure?
Typically, when a homeowner goes through a foreclosure, he or she vacates the property. However, sometimes the homeowner stays put. The term “vampire foreclosure” (also called “vampire REO”) refers to the situation where the home has been foreclosed by a bank, but is still occupied by the previous owner that was foreclosed on.
The vampire problem is more prevalent than you might think. According to RealtyTrac (an online marketplace for foreclosure properties and real estate data), 47% of bank-owned homes across the U.S. still have prior owners living in the property. In certain cities, like Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, that figure is even higher at as much as 65%.
Nonjudicial Foreclosure States Often Have Vampires
Certain nonjudicial foreclosure states have a high percentage of vampire foreclosure properties. One reason for this may be due to the fact that nonjudicial foreclosure states have relatively short foreclosure timelines and homeowners tend to have little time to prepare to vacate the home. (Find out more about nonjudicial foreclosures.)
For example, a lot of foreclosed homes in California, which utilizes a nonjudicial foreclosure process, remain occupied by the previous owner and fall into the category of a vampire foreclosure. (Learn more about the California foreclosure process.)
Florida Is Also a Vampire Hotspot
Many vampire foreclosure properties are also located in Florida, even though that is a judicial foreclosure state with a long foreclosure timeline. (Learn more in Nolo’s article States With Long Foreclosure Timelines.) The high number of vampire properties is partly due to the sheer number of foreclosures in the state. Banks can sometimes lose track of which foreclosed properties still have occupants and do not keep up with evictions. (To learn more about foreclosures in Florida, visit our Florida Foreclosure Law Center.)
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/vampire-foreclosures-when-homeowners-remain-the-home-after-foreclosure.html - 51k -
The gift I give myself on solstice is zero debt, additional investing in various asset classes, essentially more financial security. And as a renter I don’t have to worry about the quality of neighbors moving in my area in the future. I can pick up and leave for a better quality rental. Freedom is my gift. And I hope others give themselves this same gift!
Do not depend on neighbors for the upkeep of your surroundings. Do not nest 30 years in one area. It can easily change for the worse and I have seen it.
Quality SFHs amount to less than ten percent of all SFHs. You find them with ocean view or gulf view (in parts of Florida like Naples and Sarasota). Or in Aspen, Jackson Hole, etc. quality homes are unaffordable for most people.
Until we get rid of all the hand holding legislation that integrated bums into SFH neighborhoods, this unaffordability will not change.
“If you have to borrow money for 30 years, it’s not affordable nor can you afford it.”
You can say that again.
“Why buy a house now when prices are falling? Buy later, after prices crater for 70% less.”
You better believe it Mister.
Merry Christmas from a Happy Homeowner.
I know it’s not for everyone but I like it.
fixt4u
Merry Christmas from a
Happy Homeowner30 year debt slave.Enjoy your home, including all of the joys and sorrows it brings your way. Been there, done that, and I have nothing against homeowners — especially my generous BIL, who is letting our family stay in his home for the week.
On the other hand, Realtor® trolls are scumbags.
Realards R Liarz
realtors are liars
Once again Santa disappointed me by not obliterating a session of Congress with a large 24K gold meteorite. I would be happy if he just took out one or the other legislative body, leaving the other alone. I’m not asking for much.
There’s your utopia. Instead of wishing for ipthat to happen, you can operate without congress.
You have to wonder how much money and energy spent in promoting this lie….
No Clear Link Between Passive Smoking and Lung Cancer
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/12/05/jnci.djt365.extract
just wonder how many households did they follow who had 2 chain smokers as parents….i remember growing up some of the kids on our street seems to cough and get sick a lot and their clothes even smelled after being washed…..
And I used to cough a lot when DJ’ing in club…the only thing that helped was carbonated water or diet soda but then i had to go to the bathroom a lot more..thank goddd for donna summer
And I used to cough a lot when DJ’ing in club…
For me, simply being in a room where someone’s been smoking makes me lose my voice, takes 15-20 min. and then hours to recover. For that reason, there are some friends & relatives I don’t visit.
that’s a harsh reaction….I never had it that bad, that’s one reason i stuck to weddings and high school reunions. most catering halls were way ahead of the bars.You know that private vs public thingy.
I don’t buy that, t.c.b. I suspect you are a smoker. I never came across a nonsmoker who was not annoyed by second hand smoke.
I do not care if someone smokes in their own home, but for the children’s sake, by golly, don’t do that. I had severe colds when my dad smoked.
Bill - I think t.c.b is saying passive smoking is bad, not harmless as the article implies, no?
Never mind. Just read comment to mean passive smoking harms is a lie.
Right, that is why I have literally thrown up when riding with smokers, because it does nothing bad.
merry xmas to all and to all some more equity in 2014!!!
19 degrees but no snow in NYC missed us by 10 miles snow at my friends house in Yonkers
“Remember what I told you? Debt is bondage”~Suze Orman, November 09, 2013
Bright sunny Columbia Basin morning, 14-degree wind chill and no snow.
It’s 70’s to 80’s outside of overcast Orlando!
Happy holidays everyone!
I have a sister up in Hillsboro, probably around 14 there too. She has an awesome apartment. Full equipped, two bedroom. Like my Phoenix apartment. Not far from her job at the chip maker giant. Lots of great food places nearby. I don’t mind cold weather. Lived in cold climates before. But I cannot live everywhere at once. Spending most of my time in Southern California where I have perks, such as a pool lane to myself, my nearby coffee shop, Whole Foods Market not too far away, and less than miles from work.
Pointing out Realtor® fraud is NOT an ad homimen attack. It is a public service, and there is nothing personal about it.
Real estate agent, former cop charged in bank fraud scheme
Chicago man sought to stem losses from theater deal
November 24, 2013|By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune reporter
A Northwest Side real estate agent and former banker has been arrested on fraud charges in an alleged scheme to hoodwink his own bank into illegally lending $650,000 to a Chicago police lieutenant for the purchase of an apartment building, then keeping a large chunk of the cash for himself.
…
2 men convicted in $21M real estate fraud scheme
By Associated Press 6:59 p.m.
Dec. 24, 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Two of the founders of S3 Partners have been convicted in a $21 million real estate investment fraud scheme.
United States Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson announced Tuesday that a federal jury had convicted 44-year-old Melvin Russell Shields and 59-year-old Michael Sims of defrauding individual investors in the Northern District of California and elsewhere between 2006 and 2009 in connection with various real estate development projects.
A third partner, 57-year-old Sam Stafford, pleaded guilty prior to trial.
Haag and Johnson say the men engaged in investment fraud targeting elderly investors and encouraging them to cash out their individual retirement accounts and wire the proceeds to S3 Partners.
Shields and Sims are scheduled to be sentenced in April. Stafford will be sentenced in March.
Former Fort Collins real estate agent guilty in fraud case
Dec. 24, 2013 |
Written by Pat Ferrier
A Weld County jury on Monday found former Fort Collins real estate agent Matthew Sysum guilty of seven counts of forgery and one count of theft in a mortgage fraud scheme that bilked investors out of millions of dollars.
Sysum was convicted in connection with three different real estate transactions. He was accused of selling land he didn’t own and conspiring with real estate appraiser Alexander Kovacs and Darella Bloch of LandAmerica Transnation Title Insurance Co. to overvalue property he was offering for sale in Weld County. Bloch pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Jan. 2 for multiple counts of theft of $15,000 or more. As part of a plea agreement in June, Kovacs agreed to testify against Sysum and in exchange five counts of forgery of a commercial instrument were dismissed. He is serving two years probation.
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David, Jennifer Crisp plead guilty in real estate fraud case
By BakersfieldNow.com staff
Published: Dec 16, 2013 at 3:15 PM PST
Last Updated: Dec 17, 2013 at 11:37 AM PST
David and Jennifer Crisp enter federal court in Fresno, Calif., Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, to plead guilty to real estate fraud charges. (KBAK/KBFX photo)
FRESNO, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The second primary defendant in the Crisp & Cole Associates real estate fraud case entered a guilty plea Monday to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud.
Fifty-five other federal counts were dismissed against former Bakersfield real estate mogul David Crisp as part of his deal with prosecutors.
Wife Jennifer Crisp also pleaded guilty Monday in a Fresno courtroom, part of joint deal. She admitted guilt to mail and wire fraud.
David Crisp and Carl Cole scammed millions of dollars out of banks and mortgage companies between 2004 and 2007. They submitted fraudulent loan applications with material misrepresentations.
The long-running case tallied 15 defendants. The only defendant to not plead guilty is former Crisp & Cole Associates bookkeeper and operations manager Julie Farmer. She’s scheduled to go to trial in February.
Cole admitted guilt to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud during a federal court hearing last month.
The Crisps are both scheduled for sentencing in early March. David Crisp faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine under his agreement. His wife faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
St. Louis-area man accused of real estate fraud
Posted: Dec 18, 2013 6:33 AM MST
Updated: Dec 18, 2013 6:33 AM MST
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A suburban St. Louis man is accused in an alleged real estate scheme that bilked investors out of more than $2.5 million.
Federal prosecutors say 53-year-old Ronald L. Roberts of Town and Country was charged Dec. 11 with three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. The indictment was unsealed and announced Tuesday.
…
Local News
Scheme Used Fake Real Estate Deeds to Defraud Investors of $2M: Police
12/18/2013
by Melissa Pamer
A 35-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man was in custody Wednesday on suspicion of posing as a lawyer in an alleged multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud homebuyers in multiple fake home sales across Southern California.
Ernest “Ruben” Vargas was arrested Dec. 11, Garden Grove police announced Wednesday, and was suspected of being at the center of a complicated real estate scheme that involved fraudulent grant deeds for homes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Police were looking for additional victims of Vargas, or those who may have been involved in real estate transactions with him, according to Garden Grove police Lt. Jeff Nightengale. Vargas allegedly falsely posed as an attorney specializing in loan modifications and real estate transactions.
So far, only four victims have been identified, but more are believed to exist, Nightengale said.
Police believe at least $2 million was exchanged in transactions allegedly arranged by Vargas.
“They’re scratching the surface at this point,” Nightengale said of the investigation.
…
Two Chicago Real Estate Executives Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges Involving City TIF Notes and Bank Loans
12 Dec 2013 03:15
Written by Press Release
Category: State Crime Reports
CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—December 12, 2013. Two executives of a prominent Chicago real estate development company were indicted today on federal fraud charges alleging that they lied about and concealed unpaid property taxes, the double-pledging of public financing notes issued by the City of Chicago, and the company’s default on those notes so they could secure credit extensions and payments from the city at a time when they knew their firm was having serious financial difficulties. The defendants, LAURANCE H. FREED, and CAROLINE WALTERS, are, respectively, the president and vice president/treasurer of Joseph Freed and Associates LLC (JFA), best known for its role in the development of Block 37 in Chicago’s Loop.
The charges involve, in part, two Tax Increment Financing (TIF) notes that the City of Chicago agreed to issue in November 2002 to finance redevelopment of the former Goldblatt’s department store in the 4700 block of North Broadway in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. Freed was manager of a limited liability company, formed by JFA, called Uptown Goldblatts Venture LLC, which received a $4.3 million TIF redevelopment area note and a $2.4 million TIF project note from the city to help finance the project.
Freed, 51, of Chicago, and Walters, 53, of Palatine, were each charged with seven counts of bank fraud, one count of mail fraud, and five counts of making false statements to banks in a 14-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $2,995,295 in alleged fraud proceeds from both defendants, who will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.
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PONZI: Duncan, ringleader of $142 million real estate fraud, sentenced
David Bauman/The Press-Enterprise
James Benjamin Duncan, right, talks with deputy public defender Nithin B. Reddy in Riverside Superior Court on Nov. 23, 2009, where Duncan and six other defendants faced felony charges of bilking investors out of millions of dollars.
BY DEBRA GRUSZECKI
STAFF WRITER
December 12, 2013; 12:58 PM
James Duncan, the mastermind of the $142 million real estate and investment fraud that duped hundreds of unsuspecting investors out of their homes and life savings, on Thursday had his long-awaited plea-bargained sentence officially imposed.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michele Levine. acting on the recommendation of the prosecutor ordered Duncan to serve 19 years and eight months in a state prison.
He was ordered to pay $3.4 million in direct restitution to 33 victims in the multi-state scam. Duncan was granted credit for 2,970 days served in county jail.
The sentence, reduced from 22 years, was imposed in exchange for Duncan’s cooperation as a key witness in the trial that culminated in the conviction of a former business partner, Hendrix Montecastro, and a chief recruiter in the Ponzi-styled scheme, his mother, Helen Pedrino.
Montecastro and Pedrino, both of Murrieta, defended themselves in the trial at which jurors handed down guilty verdicts in March 2013 on charges of fraud and theft. Montecastro was convicted of more than 300 felonies.
…
If only I had another 24 more hours on my hands, I’m sure I could post the rest of the recent articles on Realtor® and real estate investing fraud that I am coming across in a casual Google search.
u guys are p@ssing in the wind with all this realtor fraud nonsense.
2 men convicted in $21M real estate fraud scheme
Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 24, 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Two of the founders of S3 Partners have been convicted in a $21 million real estate investment fraud scheme.
United States Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson announced Tuesday that a federal jury had convicted 44-year-old Melvin Russell Shields and 59-year-old Michael Sims of defrauding individual investors in the Northern District of California and elsewhere between 2006 and 2009 in connection with various real estate development projects.
A third partner, 57-year-old Sam Stafford, pleaded guilty prior to trial.
Haag and Johnson say the men engaged in investment fraud targeting elderly investors and encouraging them to cash out their individual retirement accounts and wire the proceeds to S3 Partners.
Shields and Sims are scheduled to be sentenced in April. Stafford will be sentenced in March.
…
Originally published December 5, 2013 at 12:19 PM | Page modified December 5, 2013 at 4:40 PM
Seattle promoter of Peru real-estate scam gets 10 years
Jose Nino de Guzman Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a fraud that prosecutors say took in $31 million for purported real-estate projects in Peru and cost investors more than $18 million in losses.
By Rami Grunbaum
Seattle Times deputy business editor
In Las Vegas, where once in three hours he spent more than $8,000 of investors’ money on drinks and tips, he was nicknamed “Jose Big Spend.”
But standing in a Seattle federal courtroom Thursday to be sentenced for defrauding investors who put $31 million into his Peruvian real-estate projects, Jose Nino de Guzman Jr. struggled to speak between sobs.
“No excuses,” he choked out, acknowledging he had wreaked financial and emotional havoc on his 200 investors.
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Feds charge three more in Allentown mortgage fraud
Madison Funding probe extends to Allentown real estate agents, bank officer.
December 21, 2013|By Peter Hall, Of The Morning Call
Two Allentown real estate agents and a banker profited by helping city home buyers get loans they couldn’t afford, federal prosecutors allege in a widening mortgage fraud case centered on a city brokerage.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia filed conspiracy charges last week against Jose Antigua, 36, and Melquisidec Caraballo, 42, agents at Dino Melendez Real Estate, alleging they steered home buyers toward a city mortgage brokerage that would falsify the buyers’ financial information to ensure the loans were approved.
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As criminal investigation ’significantly broadens,’ ideas on how to prevent deed forgery emerge
Posted: 12/23/2013
By: Ryan Kath
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - How do you stop criminals from stealing homes?
A year-long 41 Action News investigation uncovered a real estate fraud scheme in the Kansas City area, a crime pulled off by using forged signatures of the living and the dead.
The investigation also showed how one forged deed can cost homeowners thousands of dollars in legal fees. Without new regulations or procedures, there appears to be little to keep it from happening to you.
However, there are preventative measures other cities and states have taken to help stem the problem.
Los Angeles County, Calif., implemented one idea in 1997 as fraud investigators dealt with a rash of forged housing deeds.
…
Suggested Weekend Topic: AMERICA IS RIFE WITH REAL ESTATE FRAUD
Just in case Ben likes the idea, I’m getting a head start, as I will be on the road Saturday and it is hard to post from my cell phone.
Albuquerque man gets prison sentence in real estate fraud case
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: December 17, 2013 - 1:39 pm
Last Updated: December 17, 2013 - 1:41 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — A 47-year-old Albuquerque man faces over five years in prison for his convictions in a real estate fraud case.
Rodney Chavez pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and money laundering charges, and he was sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Albuquerque.
He was ordered to serve a 63-month prison sentence and pay restitution of approximately $847,000.
Chavez and two co-defendants were charged in January 2012 in a 22-count indictment. Authorities say the three men defrauded investors in a Mexico real estate venture out of more than $800,000.
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Developer Sentenced to 12.5 Years in Prison for Orchestrating Massive Mortgage Fraud Involving Over $7 Million in Loss
December 24, 2013
by USDOJ
Government and Public Real Estate News: Property News, Housing News, Grant News, Mortgage News, Foreclosure News
BOSTON – December 24, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — A Boston man was sentenced late yesterday on charges relating to a massive mortgage fraud that he orchestrated.
Sirewl R. Cox, 38, was sentenced by U.S. Judge Denise J. Casper to 150 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On Nov. 15, 2013, following a 16-day jury trial, Cox was convicted of wire fraud, bank fraud and conducting an unlawful monetary transaction.
In 2006 and 2007, Cox identified multiple-family buildings for sale and recruited straw buyers to purchase the buildings. Cox and others then recruited straw buyers to purchase individual units in buildings that Cox controlled. The straw buyers’ financing for the purchases was obtained by submitting mortgage loan applications and other documents that falsely represented key information, such as the buyers’ income, employment, assets, and/or intention to reside in the condominiums. Deals were closed with HUD-1 settlement statements that falsely represented that straw buyers had made down payments and paid other funds in connection with the property transactions, and that falsely represented how the proceeds of the mortgage loans were disbursed.
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“EDUCATION”
January 2014
Big Hair on Campus
Did Donald Trump defraud thousands who paid up to $35,000 to learn his real-estate investing skills at the now defunct Trump University, as New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman charges?…
By William D. Cohan
Donald J. Trump has 2.43 million followers on Twitter, making him the 670th most followed person in the global Twitterverse. Last fall he was sandwiched there between Lonny Rashid Lynn Jr., better known as the Chicago-born hip-hop artist Common, and Alejandro Fernández, or El Potrillo, the Mexican singer.
The Donald likes to tweet about his many triumphs and to re-tweet exhortations for him to run for president and save the country. On October 29, he re-tweeted a boast from his daughter Ivanka—who has more than 1.5 million followers—that the yet to be completed Trump International Golf Club, in Dubai, was voted by the International Property Awards “the Best Golf Development in the Middle East.” That same day, he revealed that his Virginia winery had been awarded the “coveted” Virginia Double Gold Medal.
One project The Donald isn’t crowing about on Twitter—or anywhere else, for that matter—is the public-relations problem known first as Trump University and then as the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, his effort to teach the great unwashed (for as much as $35,000 a head) his vaunted investing techniques. If Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, is to be believed, this particular (now defunct) Trump enterprise was nothing short of out-and-out fraud. Touré, a host of The Cycle on MSNBC, appears to agree. He tweeted to The Donald, “Why did you rob all those Trump University students out of their money?”
…
Posted November 26, 2013 - 4:14pm
Updated November 26, 2013 - 10:34pm
Real estate agents plead guilty to bank fraud in short sales
(THINKSTOCK)
By COLTON LOCHHEAD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Two married real estate agents from Henderson pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud in connection with fraudulent short sales, Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said.
Cynthia Hosbrook, 41, and Robert Hosbrook, 52, pleaded guilty to defrauding Wells Fargo Bank and Freddie Mac out of more than $350,000 from 2008 to 2010.
The Hosbrooks lied to the banks in the 2010 short sale of their house for what they claimed was personal hardships, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
They promised the banks that they would not stay in the house after the sale and that they were selling it to someone who wasn’t family.
They sold the house to Cynthia Hosbrook’s mother in a cash transaction, however, and continued to live in it, causing the banks to lose more than $170,000.
The couple also was involved in two other fraudulent short sales in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas in 2008 and 2009, authorities said.
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EXCLUSIVE: BBB Investigates Real Estate Scam that Cost One Man more than $38K
Updated: Tuesday, December 3 2013, 11:18 PM CST Stream Fox 17 newscasts LIVE starting with Fox 17 This Morning at 5 am and News at 9 pm. NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An alert you need to know about.
It’s a scam the Better Business Bureau says cost one man more than $38,000. The scam also targets Midstate businesses and even the city of Nashville itself. The Better Business Bureau says Nashville is a great place to start a business, and it’s that reputation that’s opening the door for scammers. That strike from thousands of miles away. The Grand Mayan Resort in Mexico. It might be beautiful, but New Jersey resident Robert Chewey figured the time was right to sell his time share. That’s when he got a call out of the blue from Realty Corp., a time-share resale company out of Franklin, or so he thought. The Better Business Bureau says Realty Corp. had gone out of business, but was still registered in Tennessee. The BBB says scammers operating in Mexico adopted the name, set up phone numbers with 615 area codes and used a fake Franklin address to draw people in. The act was so convincing, it cost Chewey. The BBB says this is just one of a dozen schemes they’ve investigated where foreign scammers draw on Nashville’s image and use Midstate addresses to take your money. When Better Business Bureau investigators went to check out those addresses, sometimes they found an empty lot. Sometimes they found an actual building with nothing inside. What they didn’t find was any trace of a legitimate business.
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Five Real Estate & Mortgage Professionals Sentenced in Massive $20 Million Bank Fraud Case
posted by Alex Ferreras on December 18, 2013 in Scams
(Source: FBI) – Over the past two days, Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken sentenced five defendants, including a real estate developer, a loan officer, a mortgage broker, and an escrow officer, for a variety of mortgage and loan fraud charges arising out of the collapse of Desert Sun Development (DSD), a company previously headquartered in Bend, Oregon. From 2004 through 2008, DSD built commercial buildings and residential housing throughout Central Oregon. According to the court records, DSD principals and other defendants caused financial institutions to lose more than $20 million.
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You are doing very well, PB. So far you have not encouraged me to conform and become a FB. Renting is freedom. A mortgage is slavery.
Bill, I know some on the HBB have criticized your approach, but I appreciate your steadfast dedication to the principle of diversified investment in the face of financial instability. My maternal grandfather took a similar approach during GD1 back in the 1930s, and managed to invest enough on a school teacher’s salary to support my grandmother for forty years after his early demise.
“Houses depreciate, ALWAYS.”
You better believe it.
If everyone can’t know about all the fraud, then they might continue to incorrectly believe that realtoRs have a fiduciary duty to their clients, and that they are members of a highly educated and watched-over group of professionals.
Gay False Flag Attacks - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ9M-XQ9Xuc - 100k - Cached - Similar pages
1 day ago …
Happy kwanza y’all!
Happy Solstice Day (albeit it was four days ago…).
I remember it as a southern California day. Not warm enough to have a cozy fire in the ol fireplace. Oh, I wait for air quality messages of when it’s okay to burn. Out of respect for asthmatic folks. It is “no burn” in Phoenix for a few days.
When you are around the table with your loved ones today remember what Moochele said, ‘Make It a Christmas treat’ to talk about a little health care.
“You know, ring in the new year with a — new coverage.”
December 19, 2013 - 5:45 AM
(CNSNews.com) - Reaching out to “moms” on Wednesday, President and Mrs. Obama urged them to encourage others to enroll in Obamacare.
“And we urge people to reach out. And if they signed up their child, then signed up — sign up their friends,” Mrs. Obama said. “You know, if you’ve got grandkids, make it a Christmas treat around the table to talk about a little health care. You know, ring in the new year with a — new coverage.” (Chuckles.)
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/michelle-obama-make-it-christmas-treat-talk-about-health-insurance - 49k -
all the people I know talk about what a joke and scam it is.
A bunch of people I know are pissed that their sub-standard (according to the gooberment) health plan that met all of their needs at a price they could afford has been canceled and the gooberment is now allowing them to replace it with a catastrophic health plan that covers none of their needs at about the same price as the plan they had canceled by Obama care that covered all of their needs.
Can I just have spiked hot chocolate instead?
‘Even the FBI may not believe its own public rhetoric in support of the program. An exchange reported in Garrett Graff’s book The Threat Matrix quotes former FBI director Robert Mueller describing what appears to be the 215 phone program as a “useless time suck.”
“In fact, the very first use of the 215 authority was not to gather up bulk phone records; it was a bit of show for the benefit of Congress. As documented in an exhaustive 2007 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, the FBI had been relying on another Patriot Act authority to obtain phone records. But by 2003, as one FBI attorney explained to the Inspector General, “there was a recognition that the FBI needed to begin obtaining Section 215 orders because… Congress would be scrutinizing the FBI’s use of the authority in determining whether to renew the authority.” In other words, the power wasn’t used because it was necessary: It was used to convince Congress that it was necessary.”
Congress would be scrutinizing the FBI’s use of the authority in determining whether to renew the authority.
he’s wrong. congress doesn’t give a rat’s behind.
What this is saying is that the NSA saw it as a “use it or lose it” power.
What this is saying is that the NSA saw it as a “use it or lose it” power.
yes, it’s the same thing with tax dollars. spend them or lose them. and congress doesn’t care about either one.
The Amash bill to rein in the NSA failed by just a few votes. Now that pretty much everybody agrees it hasn’t stopped one attack, this program is likely toast. It’s amazing that all this spying, in ways totalitarians dream of, might have been so some bureaucrats could pad their budget.
I suspect it’s more than that. Like the NSA spying on an EU regulator who was investigating Google. And the guy who won a court action against the NSA says texts were send from his phone that he didn’t send, in the run up to the trial!
And it’s been used to sniff out whistle blowers already! There are a million good reasons to reinstate our rights to privacy and not one good reason to maintain the surveillance state.
i agree with all of the above. and like you imply, there are many things going on that we will probably never know about. it is sickening and infuriating.
we have to get the establishment politicians out. but it’s going to be really really hard. i believe that without fraud, romney would have won the election.
but now the liberal elite have gotten even better at election fraud. voting machines are made by the same people that make video gambling machines. they can be programmed to do anything. they can make elections look like blowouts or razor thin. they were embarrassed by fraud accusations last time. no one wins with 100% of the vote when there are thousands of votes. statistical error alone makes it impossible. yet there it was, to the fraudsters embarrassment. they won’t let it happen again. they’ll make the elections look valid this time.
the only chance we really have is if the fraudsters also become so disenchanted with the liberals that they refuse to help them.
How Ron Paul Was Cheated Out Of Presidency
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_WBo4sfmi4
I don’t know if Paul was denied the presidency, but he was denied fair treatment by the press and political establishment.
yes, and Paul would have been 100 time better than romney.
I watched the entire video. The shut out of Ron Paul in 2012 basically affirmed what many people have been saying for years: the elections are rigged.
But for an instant I was wondering. There would be so many Republican operatives involved to keep hushed about the shut out that the truth will come out. On the other hand there are too many Ron Paul supporters to also hush in case this shut out was staged too.
There is a lot for the establishment (banks, corporations, government power mongers) to lose by having Ron Paul policies prevail. The Ron Paul supporters only regain more individual liberty, less liklihood of terrorism and less liklihood of war and lower taxes (keeping more of what is theirs).
So the 2012 election cheating by the establishment made me swear off voting for good. I am a voluntaryist. I hope for a nonviolent American revolution via withholding our consent. I am withholding as much as I reasonably can without becoming a political prisoner of The State.
I am a fan of Ron Paul’s. That said, how did he manage not to confront what it would take to become President, and the things he and his organization would have had to do to achieve it? Especially having served in government for so many years.
I understand that he wanted to take the high road and I commend him for that. But unfortunately it’s not possible. If you’re in it, you’re in it to win it, otherwise don’t bother. He left many disappointed supporters in his wake. If he didn’t want to get his hands dirty and rise above it all, become a priest or a philosopher, and advise and support someone who is willing to do what it takes to win. Politics is a dirty, filthy game. Ross Perot couldn’t confront it, either.
As I’ve said, he didn’t have a Walshingham (Elizabeth I’s advisor and counselor) to shield him, to plot and plan and remove obstacles.
‘the elections are rigged’
A couple of things; it’s mostly the primaries that are rigged. When I was a delegate to the state convention, the second speaker, after the governor, was the state party chairman. He got up and told us we were there to nominate Romney. We hadn’t even had a single vote yet!
What is the chance that the next president will be someone other than a Democrat or Republican nominee? This is the tyranny of the two party system. A system which is never mentioned in the constitution.
But the media’s role is something else. If you watch the video it’s mind-boggling how blatantly they ignored this candidate. How do they get away with that? Gingrich would get national coverage of an event with 80 people, and Paul would get no coverage of an event with many thousands attending.
And when Donald Trump mentioned he might run, the media was all over it. Trump isn’t a serious candidate for any office. Remember all the “new front-runner” reports? Trump, then Rick Perry, Ginrich, Bachman, Santorum. All the while Paul was polling ahead of these people.
I liked Ron Paul’s approach. He did rise above it all. Not once did I notice him using an unprincipled approach. Maybe you can give us examples?
Here is the ultimate lesson Ron Paul taught me: The system is rigged against individual liberty. Do not sanction it. Do not acquiesce. Withdraw consent as much as possible. Live free in an unfree world. When everyone withdraws consent there will be nothing for the statists to feed on.
‘He left many disappointed supporters in his wake’
I agree. His main spokesman said on a youtube that when it was getting tight, the Romney camp came to them and said they were going to go nuclear on Paul if he didn’t back down. I don’t know if that’s true. But he should have taken the fight to the convention floor and he didn’t.
“I liked Ron Paul’s approach. He did rise above it all.”
And failed to have counselors who were willing to play dirty pool, not only on his behalf, but on behalf of the country.
It’s war. War is a bloody game.
Ben, wouldn’t you expect some whistle blower to appear from CNN or CNBC? Someone who lost a job due to office politics and now seeing that individualism is far better than collectivism and hey by the way now realizing Ron Paul was right.
“the Romney camp came to them and said they were going to go nuclear on Paul if he didn’t back down.”
And why didn’t Paul have someone to spit right back in their faces and say “Do your worst, because we’ve got the goods on so-and-so (Romney, or one of his henchman) and we’re going Hiroshima on you right back”?
Paul needed a Rove, and I suspect he may have had more than one champing at the bit, but probably wouldn’t allow them to do the necessary. If true, that’s HIS doing and a darned shame for all of us.
All the Roves were booked solid by the establishment. Corporate money speaks loudly and snuffs out all competition. Ron Paul never had a chance. He was in essence the Eugene McCarthy of 2012.
“All the Roves were booked solid by the establishment. Corporate money speaks loudly and snuffs out all competition. Ron Paul never had a chance. He was in essence the Eugene McCarthy of 2012.”
Aw, BS to that. Rove was his own invention, he worked his voluminous, smelly butt off to justify his own existence and raise money for the likes of Bush, starting with a rolodex and a direct mail campaign and building from there. People took notice, that’s how he built his success and his persona. He was Bush’s “architect”, Bush’s Walshingham, if you will. So much so, that he became powerful enough to dictate what other political aspirants should do, and if you didn’t play ball, you were toast. Mel Martinez, anyone? He was willing to trash even Jeb’s associates in the service of Shrub, and he did, with gusto, throwing Bill McCollum here in Florida right under the bus, over Jeb’s squeals of outrage.
And that’s what it takes, like it or not. A bare knuckle fighter willing to get his hands dirty and bloody on behalf of his candidate, and a candidate willing to let him. It would not surprise me at all if there was more than a Rove or two unwanted by the establishment, but willing do battle on behalf of Paul. And I’d be willing to bet Paul probably shuddered at associating with such. Well, tough tittie. That’s what it takes. Give me a real leader, and spare me a noble martyr. They’ll throw themselves and their supporters to the lions, waste everyone’s time and break everyone’s heart. I’m sorry to be so harsh about Paul, but just by your statement above, that’s the false conclusion people came to as a result of his failure to do the necessary, or let someone else do it for him.
No, there IS hope. But it takes bare knuckle fighters willing to realize it.
Here’s my Paul story: in the early days of his campaign, I contacted his organization in DC, because I couldn’t find a nearby group to work with. I spoke with a very nice man, who sounded very decent and sincere. His suggestion? Find a meet-up group in your area. Jeebus.
“Corporate money speaks loudly and snuffs out all competition. Ron Paul never had a chance.”
Brass knuckles capitalism! You like that!!
Corporations != capitalism, if you don’t understand Java or C programming, that is “not equal.”
Charlie Brown Christmas - Linus- The Meaning Of … - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-_w9xkZE78 - 115k -
“Eliot Spitzer, Wife Announce They Are Ending Marriage”
Poor guy will discover that renting a wife is way cheaper than ownership.
What I’ve been saying!
Hey rms:
I think you must be a very miserable person, just like all the other woman-haters who can’t resist spreading their hatred on this blog. I am not an item to be rented, and I guarantee that if you met me, you would not say such a thing to my face.
The “poor guy” is a useless fool, and sealed his own fate. He is lucky that she provided him with what he has.
” I guarantee that if you met me, you would not say such a thing to my face.”
You very well could be right but not in the way you think.
Where are the posts that say anyone here hates women? I am a woman lover. I don’t like marriage and never intend to marry. Where is “hatred” in that comment?
One does not refer to a human being in terms of buying and renting.
Again, where is the hatred?
As a voluntaryist, all relationships must be voluntary. For there to be a buyer there must be a willing seller. Okay, if it makes you feel better substitute “mashed potatoes” for “buy” or “rent.” it is still about voluntary relationships and there are always trades between a man and a woman. You can go ahead and pretend it does not exist but you cannot pretend away reality.
One does not refer to a human being in terms of buying and renting.
yes, let’s be politically correct and pretend it doesn’t exist.
what’s the difference between renting a human and paying them a wage?
what’s the difference between paying someone and using them?
Fellow consultants and I jokingly referred to ourselves as conslutants and outer recruiters as pimps.
I was rented out. Money was being made off of me. I made money off the client
Where is the “hatred?”
“One does not refer to a human being in terms of buying and renting.”
Gosh V, are you really that thin-skinned for crikey sakes? You must have tough time getting through life taking everything in a literal sense. Equating owning and renting with marriage and dating was done in jest.
Poor guy will discover that
renting a wife is way cheaper than ownershiphe never owned his wife, but she owned him.Seems to me that Spitzer’s rental of women proved to very, very expensive to him.
“Seems to me that Spitzer’s rental of women proved to very, very expensive to him.”
+1 Both marriage and dating in concert [is] expensive.
A lovely woman for sure. Felt bad for her standing next to him that fateful day with swollen eyes.
It is so easy to set back your health program with feel-good treats this time of year. My advice is: don’t do it! You know you will feel good about yourself by not eating junk. Besides, the junk lowers your resistance to contagious viruses.
And the older you get the more important to keep your immunity levels high. Get a head start on the New Year and instead of that pie and Ice Cream tonight go for a wedged orange or two of them!
This also goes for heavy carbs such as Pizzas. Eat baked salmon instead.
No thanks.
A business associate who has 200 employees at a multi – location Gym chain is worried by the minimum wage increase. They are seeing people cancel a $20 monthly membership quite often. Besides payroll, utilities, taxes, maintenance costs, food and everything is increasing. They seem worried. Any suggestions from hbb???.
I did not know how to respond to their worries
United States: New York Minimum Wage Set To Increase On December 31, 2013
This is a reminder that, effective December 31, 2013, the minimum wage in New York will increase to $8.00 per hour. On December 31, 2014, it will increase to $8.75 per hour; on December 31, 2015, it will increase to $9.00 per hour, or the federal rate if greater than the state rate.
http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/282330/employee+rights+labour+relations/New+York+Minimum+Wage+Set+to+Increase+on+December+31+2013+See+more+at+httpwwwlittlercomwagehourcounselnewyorkminimumwagesetincreasedecember312013utmsourcefeedburnerutmmediumfeedutmcampaignFeed3A+WageandHourCounsel+28Li
Close up shop, liquidate, hold the cash.
January is their busiest time of the year, he should be doing whatever he can to make hay.
Diversify to other states and gradually sell or close the NY locations.
I’ve been making some comments about how a high price eventually tells the market to deliver more supply. An artificially high price, if it lasts long enough, sends a mistaken message that results in oversupply.
‘Sales of new single-family homes declined 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 464,000 units in November, a slight drop from an upwardly revised strong pace of 474,000 units in the previous month.’
‘Not including October 2013, this is the strongest sales pace since July of 2008 — an indication that the housing market is faring well — at least for now — against a backdrop of rising mortgage rates.’
‘Mortgage applications overall fell last week by 6 percent, with the refinancing share of applications down to a 5-year low. The inventory of new homes for sale declined to 167,000 units in November, which is a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace.’
‘Regionally, new-home sales were mixed in November. Both the West and the Northeast showed improvement, with respective increases of 31.1 percent and 15.2 percent. New-home sales in the Midwest dropped by 26.6 percent and the South posted a 9.1 percent decline.’
House hold formation is falling. To their credit, many builders know there is no shortage and have acted accordingly. But inevitably, some will bring unneeded supply thinking they will cash in; the price is telling them that. 167,000 units can become a glut overnight.
Here’s an example of distorted messages in supply and demand:
‘TAOS — Des Montes residents may see 36 new luxury homes in their neighborhood. Two Illinois developers, Jerome de Bontin and Randy Hanevutt, are proposing a 400-acre subdivision called the Beausoleil subdivision. The land would be subdivided into 36 10- to 15-acre lots.’
‘In an interview with The Taos News, Hanevutt said he is optimistic that he and his partner can drum up interest from buyers, despite the county’s stagnant housing market. He said the market in Taos has seen improvements, and he thinks it will have improved even more by the time they are ready to start selling the lots, which will be in about a year and half.’
“Trying to time the market is always difficult,” Hanevutt said. “We believe in Taos County.”
This plays out in various ways. Condos no one really wants. McMansions locals can’t afford. Subdivisions too far from jobs.
Do you really think your house is worth more than it cost to build new? Of course it isn’t. It’s worth something less than that, typically 65% of the reproduction cost (lot, material, labor, profit) which is roughly $55-$60/sqft.
Thus the typical used 2000 sq ft house is worth $40/sqft or $80,000.
Thus the typical used 2000 sq ft house is worth $40/sqft or $80,000.
How I wish that were true where I live.
Do you believe there is a problem?
‘Signed purchase contracts for newly built homes were down slightly in November, according to government data, but only after an unexpected upward revision to October’s reading and a strange sales surge in the South.’
‘Squaring “the near highest level of new home sales in years with a multiyear low in mortgage applications to buy a home continues to tell me that investors are beginning to get their feet wet in the new home space with the goal of renting these homes out,” said analyst Peter Boockvar of the Lindsey Group. “The secular shift to renting should continue.”
Oh boy:
‘investors are beginning to get their feet wet in the new home space’
Comment by Muggy
2013-12-24 14:05:22
Merry Christmas!
This had me cracking up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw
————————————————————————————
I meant to respond to this last night but I was distracted.
First of all, Key and Peele are very entertaining, but like all great comedians, their source material taps into much deeper levels of human consciousness; the very bottom of which being tragedy.
The best way to recognize a behavior is to first see it in yourself. I see this “substitute teacher” routine in a lot of black peoples behavior. The experience of racism has left them so insecure and confused that they have mutated into a hostile aggressive creature who thinks EVERYBODY is out to “get them”.
This was a classic clip because it demonstrates how some people are so far gone you can’t even help them.
I have people like this in my own family (which is why I haven’t seen some of them for years)
Being aware of this behavior in black people, I have also discovered other types of people with this behavior I have to watch out for such as alcoholics, children of alcoholics and bastard sons of single moms.
True story:
I was at a friends house and one of the nieghborhood kids whom I kinda new came up to me and began telling me about a problem this girl we both new said she was having with me. I said to him: “if xxxxxx has a problem with me, why doesn’t she tell me herself so I can correct it?
Are you carrying water for her?”
That was the end of that, or so I thought. Two days later this punk stops me coming down the stairs, gets in my face and says, “I don’t like what you DID to me the other day”
I was like “huh? what are you talking about?
He said, “you know what you did”
I said, “calm down and tell me EXACTLY what you mean”
(let me remind you this punk is blockin my path, sh*t is tryin to get real)
He said, “you called me out of my name/said I was carrying water”
Now at this point, I almost started laughing; this little n___a had been stewing for 2 DAYS! pissed over a QUESTION I asked him that he didn’t even understand.
I had to explain to him that it was a metaphor, what a metaphor is and how they work…
This little punk wanted an apology over something I said that he didn’t even understand; and was gonna confront me on a stairwell to get it!
Ive run into so many of these kinds of people (that come in all kinds of ages, shapes, colors…) that I had to make up a word to describe them.
I call them emotional retards; their social skills have been retarded, usually by some type of psychological childhood insult or abusive situation.
You can’t help these people because they consider any help to be criticism, and any criticism to be an attack.
Key and Peele really nailed it in this clip.
But it gets worse too; imagine if the students are as emotionally retarded as the teacher?
*comments are disabled for this video*
Sometimes I think this is why Ive always prefered to interact with objects and nonhumans instead of people.
It was a lot easier as a child because I didn’t have to chase money.
Everybody thinks they are special and different, but we are all engaged in the exact same “hustle”:
Dodging n____s and chasing money.
*protect yourself at all times and good luck*
Merry Christmas
(I haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as my savior but Im so desparate that I do think about it)
In essence, knowledge leads to peace.
Happy holidays Spook
Reminds me of a jr. High incident experienced by my older sister. It’s much too long to go into so I shall just share the punch line: “Who you callin’ ‘pray tell’?”
BTW, I forgot to add that women are masters at manipulating males into fighting other males. In the incident I related, I was friends with the girl, so I was surprised she told this guy she had a problem with something I did, when she could have just told me herself?
She was one of my roommates; WTF?
It was only later I learned about how females manipulate simps into all kinds of bizzare behavior by holding out a chance for some poon.
Bastard sons of single moms are highly susceptible to this type of skullduggery since it is often all they know.
*be advised*
“BTW, I forgot to add that women are masters at manipulating males into fighting other males.”
Yeah, males play that game, too, trust me on this. But they sort of manage to hide their role in it, even when it’s out in plain sight. In Polk County, Florida, one girl jumped off an old water tower and comitted suicide as a result of her old boyfriend goading his new girlfriend into bullying her. Another girl is in prison now as a result of killing a girl over a boyfriend. These are high school girls, no less.
In both cases the boys put on a complete front of shocked, wide-eyed innocence, when in fact they were the instigators. In both cases, you take one look at the guy and you have to wonder why any girl would even so much as look at such mouth-breathing wastes of flesh.
I call them emotional retards; their social skills have been retarded, usually by some type of psychological childhood insult or abusive situation.
You can’t help these people because they consider any help to be criticism, and any criticism to be an attack.
As a physician, I call it PTSD, or a personality warped by historical trauma. Native Americans, descendants of freed slaves, many children of holocaust survivors or of substance abusers tend to be like that. I have met people who consider any mere DESCRIPTION of themselves or their behavior (no matter how innocuous) to be criticism / an attack / a belittlement.
“a personality warped by historical trauma.”
Or perhaps descendant of…
http://www.livescience.com/41717-mice-inherit-fear-scents-genes.html
I am not sure if I buy this. I should therefore have PTSD from the attacks barbarians made in Ancient Germany, land of my father’s ancestors?
That article doesn’t go into it… in another article it stated that the effect was observed through 2 generations.
“The definition of a housing recovery is dramatically lower and more affordable prices by definition.”
Considering housing prices have resumed falling as a result of collapsing sales, we’re in a housing recovery.
If you take on mortgage debt at current massively inflated housing prices, you’ll enslave yourself for the rest of your life.
“Debt is bondage.”~Suze Orman, May 11, 2013
In other words, don’t buy housing at these massively inflated prices. Don’t Be A Debt Donkey®
“Do you really believe wages are going to triple to meet wildy inflated housing prices? Of course not. Prices will fall by half to meet current wages.”
You better believe it. Price fixing works…. until it collapses under its’ own weight.
“Just for the record; there is no shortage of housing. Not in California, not in Tokyo, not anywhere. And there will come a day (again) when the media will tell us, ‘there’s a glut of houses for sale in….’, and regale us with sob stories, ‘I was doing great until the economy went south and my income went away and I can’t get rid of this damned house!’”
~Ben Jones, August 8, 2013
This false notion…. this lie….. that there is a shortage of housing in the US is laughable considering there are tens of millions of excess empty houses out there. A sea of them. And it’s growing. Day by day.
This is an accurate illustration where current housing prices are.
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8180/stagesbubble.png
Think about it…..The Fed is buying a half TRILLION in mortgages every year.
They are making the market. Nobody else. And when they stop, you’ll know it.
What on earth leads you to believe they will ever stop?
“What on earth leads you to believe they will ever stop?”
When they do stop, those Black Hawk helicopters that have been training in the cities won’t be firing blanks.
Imbalances are never permanent.
“If you don’t like widening disparity, abolish the fed. Don’t vote for the politicians who promote cheap money. Otherwise, you have no right to complain. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.”
No….. not part of the problem. They ARE the problem.
HA believes the places described in this article such as Richmond or San Pablo should be the same $55 / sf as Palo Alto or Pacific Heights! There is no doubt he’s right about $55 / sf in these east Bay areas and probably too high. But he’s very wrong about Palo Alto and Pacific Heights and certainly cannot build even the cr*p shacks he peddles for anywhere near that cost including the lot in these choice locations.
http://tinyurl.com/l6cqug5
Donkey,
It’s not a matter of belief. It’s the truth. Construction costs vary 5% max irrespective of location.
Your bemoaning and belaboring tells us you got ripped off on a house. Get over it and get on with your life.
Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey song - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrdxtWgHbE - 126k -
The baby donkeys at the end remind me of M. slith’s kids.
Typical garbage response. I have one house paid for in a high quality location. As far as net worth not counting the house…. bigger than what Bill in LA posted. Paid for cars. No cc debt. Etc…
That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee.
Drink up and enjoy your mortgage slavery and losses.
your mortgage slavery
How does having a house paid for morph into mortgage slavery?
Learn to have a nose for BS my friend.
Bloomberg: Trans Pacific Partnership Is “Corporatist Power Grab”
“As Democratic And Transparent As A One-Party State,” Shrouded In “Big Brother-Like Secrecy”
Washington’s Blog
December 24, 2013
The U.S. Trade Representative – the federal agency responsible for negotiating trade treaties – has said that the details of the Trans Pacific Partnership are classified due to “national security”.
A Congressman who has seen the text of the treaty says:
There is no national security purpose in keeping this text secret … this agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate interests.
It will increase the cost of borrowing, make prescription drugs more expensive, destroy privacy, harm food safety, and – yes - literally act to destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and the other nations which sign the bill.
To give an idea of what would happen to American law if TPP passes, just look at Equador …
It’s courts awarded billions against Chevron for trashing huge swaths of rainforest. But then a private arbitration panel simply ignored the country’s court system.
If TPP passes, American courts will be sidelined as well. (Conservatives might want to read this and this.)
William Pesek writes at Bloomberg:
The Big Brother-like secrecy enshrouding the treaty on the U.S. side [is stunning.]
***
WikiLeaks did what Barack Obama’s White House refuses to: share portions of the document with the public. The draft of the intellectual-property rights chapter by Julian Assange’s outfit validated the worst fears — that TPP is a corporatist power grab. Rather than heed the outcry, the U.S. doubled down on secrecy, refusing to disclose more details.
***
You know you have a transparency problem when citizens of a democracy need to rely on WikiLeaks for details on changes to laws on Internet use, labor, environmental and food-safety standards, and the cost and availability of drugs. It’s worth considering something Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told CNBC in December 2009: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” So why is the Obama administration behaving as if it runs a closed Communist Party state? The answer can only be, To circumvent the legislative process.
***
Last month, 151 House Democrats, members of Obama’s own party, sent a letter to the White House stating their opposition to granting him fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements, citing a lack of congressional consultation.
***
What would America’s founders make of this process?
***
Asians should say no to a trade deal that’s as democratic and transparent as a one-party state.
This article was posted: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 at 5:32 am
Tags: business, economics, money
“When people are obsessed with one facet(income) of a two faceted problem(high prices), the price-fixing power structures remain in place.”
TRUTH
Pacific Trade Deal Needs More WikiLeaking
By William Pesek Dec 19, 2013 5:25 PM ET
U.S. lawmakers and civil-liberties groups have complained for some time about the opacity surrounding the treaty’s terms. Mild grousing turned into outrage last month after WikiLeaks did what Barack Obama’s White House refuses to: share portions of the document with the public. The draft of the intellectual-property rights chapter by Julian Assange’s outfit validated the worst fears — that TPP is a corporatist power grab. Rather than heed the outcry, the U.S. doubled down on secrecy, refusing to disclose more details.
Hasn’t the U.S. wondered why so many of East Asia’s most promising democracies have so far avoided the treaty? The popular excuse for why Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand aren’t yet among the 12 TPP economies is that they aren’t ready or are trapped by their own timidity. A better explanation is that their leaders realize that truly transparent and accountable governments, to borrow Kerry’s own words, shouldn’t be leading their people into the unknown.
Take Japan, which recently spirited a government secrets bill into law without public debate, even though most Japanese oppose it. The ostensible reason for the move by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to ensure confidential sharing of intelligence with the U.S. in the post-Edward Snowden world. But human-rights groups are up in arms over its far-reaching and ambiguous language and the potential jail terms for journalists and whistle-blowers. In form and timing, it had TPP written all over it.
“The vagueness of the secrets act reflects a basic theme of Japanese governance, which is ‘I work for the government, therefore I know more than you, therefore you should do what I say,’” says Colin Jones, a legal scholar at Doshisha Law School in Kyoto, Japan.
That, in a nutshell, explains the Obama administration’s TPP argument: Oh, don’t worry, we know what we’re doing and it will be fine. The trouble is that this poses a demand for trust, with no opportunity to verify.
You know you have a transparency problem when citizens of a democracy need to rely on WikiLeaks for details on changes to laws on Internet use, labor, environmental and food-safety standards, and the cost and availability of drugs. It’s worth considering something Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told CNBC in December 2009: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” So why is the Obama administration behaving as if it runs a closed Communist Party state? The answer can only be, To circumvent the legislative process.
“If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, TPP has you in its crosshairs,” Assange said last month. If instituted, TPP “would trample over individual rights and free expression as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons.”
Asian governments should reject TPP unless they can tell their people exactly what is in it, and why and how it will affect their lives. Thanks to Assange, we now know that the U.S. wants signatories to allow patent changes that could raise the cost of food and health care in developing nations, including increasing the price of treating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Is that progress?
Last month, 151 House Democrats, members of Obama’s own party, sent a letter to the White House stating their opposition to granting him fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements, citing a lack of congressional consultation. Why have officials from Johnson & Johnson, Cisco Systems Inc. and General Electric Co. seen details that skeptical legislators such as Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson can’t? What would America’s founders make of this process?
Asian governments should hold public hearings, encourage a public debate, and let legislatures see and vote on the TPP based on the treaty’s fully disclosed terms. If that isn’t something they can do, Asians should say no to a trade deal that’s as democratic and transparent as a one-party state.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-19/pacific-trade-deal-needs-more-wikileaking.html - 65k
Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)
“The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) is a capabilities and performance-based exercise program which provides a standardized policy, methodology, and terminology for exercise design, development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning. HSEEP Policy and Guidance is presented in detail in HSEEP Volumes I-III. Adherence to the policy and guidance presented in the HSEEP Volumes ensures that exercise programs conform to established best practices and helps provide unity and consistency of effort for exercises at all levels of government.”
[link to hseep.dhs.gov (secure)]
Players
Players are agency personnel who have an active role in responding to the simulated emergency and perform their regular roles and responsibilities during the exercise. Players initiate actions that will respond to and mitigate the simulated emergency.
Controllers
Controllers set up and operate the exercise site, plan and manage exercise play, and act in the roles of response individuals and agencies that are not playing in the exercise. Controllers direct the pace of exercise play; they routinely include members of the Exercise Planning Team. They provide key data to players and may prompt or initiate certain players actions to ensure exercise continuity.
Simulators
Simulators are control staff personnel who role play nonparticipating organizations or individuals. They most often operate out of the SimCell, but they may occasionally have face-to-face contact with players. Simulators function semi-independently under the supervision of SimCell controllers, enacting roles (e.g., media reporters or next of kin) in accordance with instructions provided in the Master Scenario Events List (MSEL). All simulators are ultimately accountable to the Exercise Director and Senior Controller.
What is SimCell?
The SimCell is an exercise area where controllers generate and deliver injects, and receive player responses to non-participating organizations, agencies, and individuals who would likely participate actively in an actual incident. Physically, the SimCell is a working location for a number of qualified professionals who portray representatives of non-participating organizations, agencies, and individuals who would likely participate during an actual incident.
What is a MSEL?
The Master Scenario Events List (MSEL) is a chronological timeline of expected actions and scripted events (i.e., injects) to be inserted into operations-based exercise play by controllers in order to generate or prompt player activity. It ensures necessary events happen so that all exercise objectives are met.
The MSEL outlines benchmarks and injects that drive exercise play. It also details realistic input to exercise players, as well as information expected to emanate from simulated organizations (i.e., nonparticipating organizations, agencies, and individuals who usually would respond to the situation). An inject includes several items of information, such as inject time, intended recipient, responsible controller, inject type, a short description of the event, and the expected player action.
Evaluators
Evaluators evaluate and provide feedback on a designated functional area of the exercise. They are chosen on the basis of their expertise in the functional area(s) they have been assigned to review during the exercise and their familiarity with local emergency response procedures. Evaluators assess and document participant’s performance against established emergency plans and exercise evaluation criteria, in accordance with Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) standards. They typically are chosen from planning committee members or agencies or organizations that are participating in the exercise.
Actors
Actors simulate specific roles during exercise play. They typically are volunteers who have been recruited to play the role of victims or other bystanders.
Observers
Observers visit or view selected segments of the exercise. Observers do not play in the exercise, nor do they perform any control or evaluation functions. Observers view the exercise from a designated observation area and must remain within the observation area during the exercise. VIP’s are also observers, but they frequently are grouped separately. A dedicated group of exercise controllers will be assigned to manage these groups.
Media Personnel
Some media personnel may be present as observers, pending approval by Emergency Management Agency and the Exercise Planning Team. Media interactions also may be simulated by the SimCell to enhance realism and meet related exercise objectives. A dedicated group of exercise controllers will be assigned to manage these groups.
Glossary: [link to hseep.dhs.gov (secure)]
Merry Christmas to everyone except for trolls!
Here’s to wishing all who read here a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Above all, try not to get stucco in 2014!
P.S. You can see that my lovely wife finally gave me the gift I have been requesting for several years running.
Most of their movies are still funny. Hilarious comedians! If you ever listened to the rock group “Queen,” they titled several albums after the titles of Marx Bros. movies.
I think the trolls celebrate their own holidays.
Merry Christmas PB! Glad you got one gift. Am hoping affordable housing is gifted to you next Christmas!
ft dot com
December 24, 2013 3:30 am
China cash crunch symbolises central bank policy quandary
George Magnus
Money squeeze symbolises a major and unpredictable medium-term policy struggle, writes George Magnus
China’s financial markets are under pressure for the second time this year. Interbank rates and bond yields have been rising steadily for several weeks and spiked recently when the People’s Bank of China abstained from accommodating seasonal demand for cash.
The PBoC then relented before last weekend and this week. The immediate outlook, while probably volatile, is most likely manageable without too much fuss but the crunch in financial markets symbolises a major and unpredictable policy struggle over the medium-term to tame rapid credit creation, and allow a market-determined cost of capital to emerge.
The simple place to start is the seasonal demand for funds, and normal “window dressing” by banks as they prepare for regulatory assessment. This could last a few weeks and until lunar new year at the end of January. Other factors have also contributed to the tightening of financial market conditions. For example, the build-up in government deposits in the banking system is not being run down as normal to finance government spending growth. This is in keeping with the more sober fiscal stance announced recently after the Third Plenum. Further, financial liberalisation is creating funding demand for initial public offerings in the equity market, with about 50 in the pipeline. It is also driving competition for deposits away from traditional banks and to the relatively new wealth management industry, which originates higher yielding, short-maturity financial products, many of which are up for renewal around this time of year.
The main worry, though, is that China’s financial markets are in the crosshairs of much bigger issues – the credit cycle and economic reforms. Serial tensions in financial markets may, therefore, become the norm, reflecting attempts to damp down a virulent credit expansion at a time when the political drive towards financial liberalisation and a greater role for markets are supposed to be picking up speed.
China’s credit boom is still in full swing. Total credit in the economy (total social financing) showed a 40 per cent rise in November over the prior month and is on course for growth this year of almost 20 per cent. It is continuing to expand at twice the rate of nominal, or money, gross domestic product, and according to official data has pushed the credit to GDP ratio up to 215 per cent in 2013, and most likely more. It is clear that banking institutions, state-owned enterprises and local government financing vehicles have remained relatively insensitive to, or been able to circumvent, higher interest rates and bond yields, central government curbs on the shadow banking sector, and the rampant real estate and infrastructure markets.
…
China’s crazy property bubble
By Pauline Chiou, CNN
November 8, 2013 — Updated 0217 GMT (1017 HKT)
Editor’s note: One Square Meter explores the leading architectural designs, city plans and demand for property investment in emerging markets. Join CNN’s John Defterios as he visits some of the world’s most dynamic cities for an insight into the fast-paced world of real estate development. From December 17, watch the show on CNN every Tuesday during Global Exchange.
Beijing (CNN) — Cui Shufeng is a retired government worker in Beijing. She is one of the lucky homeowners who bought her place long before the housing sector galloped out of reach for the average Chinese salary worker.
“It is ridiculously high,” she says pointing to apartments in her neighborhood. “These homes near the school here are CNY 70,000 (USD$11,400) per square meter. It’s not even worth 7000 yuan (USD$ 1140) per square meter because it’s not even good quality.”
Her concern is on the radar of the central leadership that is expected to discuss economic reforms at the plenary session starting Saturday. For Chinese leaders, the property sector is an emotional and political hot potato. The dream to own a home is a far out of reach for tens of millions of Chinese citizens.
…
Vancouver’s Skyrocketing Housing Prices: Are Mainland Chinese Investors To Blame?
By Palash Ghosh
on December 17 2013 5:04 AM
Vancouver, the gleaming city in British Columbia in far western Canada, boasts the highest real estate prices in North America, and second-highest in the world (after only Hong Kong), according to a study by Demographia International Housing Survey, a housing pricing service.
For example, the average house in the wealthy West Side district of Vancouver clocks in at C$2.1 million (US$2 million), second only to Hong Kong. Over the past five years, the average price of detached properties on the West Side has soared by 45.3 percent, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. On the city’s less affluent East Side, the average price for a home is still a hefty C$850,000, having surged by 35.2 percent over the past half-decade. In Vancouver’s suburbs, including such satellite towns as Burnaby and Richmond, prices of single-family detached homes have jumped by 24.4 percent to C$922,600 over the past five years.
Much of the blame (or credit, depending upon one’s perspective) for Vancouver’s skyrocketing housing costs has been directed at deep-pocketed immigrants from mainland China who have poured into British Columbia in recent years, buying up luxury properties en masse. Joy Mo, 42, a Chinese-born Vancouver-area resident for 11 years, is one who blames wealthy investors from mainland China, shunting off prospective buyers like herself. “I’m quite disappointed,” she told the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong. “This is a place for all of us, and if you drive all the local buyers out of the market, what is the community going to be?” Mo and her husband are renting a home in the suburb of Port Moody, about 20 miles east of Vancouver, after having sold their home in 2008 (just before the huge spike in local property prices). Now, they find it impossible to afford a home in Vancouver proper again.
But she won’t blame all Chinese immigrants for Vancouver’s soaring housing costs. “Most immigrants who came here before 2008 or 2007 were mostly independent immigrants who came here with certain technical backgrounds,” she said. “They tried to find a job, settle themselves here. But after that, all of a sudden, there are a whole bunch of investor-category immigrants. Those are the ones that have a lot of money. They are generally not working and they don’t really care about finding a job because they have a business back in China.”
…
Real estate volatility spikes on housing bubble concerns
By Ted Chen, The China Post
December 6, 2013, 12:02 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Following statements issued by government officials on Thursday warning of the growing likelihood of a real estate bubble in the Greater Taipei area, the property development sector yesterday saw a surge in volatility, with intraday fluctuation reaching as high as 1.55 percent at the end of trading.
On Thursday, officials of the Central Bank, R.O.C. stated that the average price of homes has outpaced income levels by a factor of 12.4, a figure that exceeds international norms by fivefold, and a condition indicative of an real estate bubble.
Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ford explained that rampantly rising home prices are the result of numerous factors, including the continued influx of capital into the housing market, broad speculation, and the public’s perception that the supply of real estate is rapidly being outpaced by demand. Chang stated that despite rising values, rental returns on properties have yet to justify surging property prices. Based on the aforementioned observations, during a Legislative Yuan session on Thursday, Chang warned that a bubble may be forming in the real estate market.
The real estate development sector lost momentum shortly after making a 0.69-percent climb following yesterday’s opening bell. As volatility increased yesterday, declines in the sector expanded to as much as 0.86 percent, and stabilized at 0.7 percent towards the end of trading, with intraday volatility reaching 1.55 percent.
…
“…global housing prices are usually five times that of average annual income…”
Try 2-3 times income when prices are not inflated by a massive credit bubble.
Taipei has housing bubble: Finance Minister
By John Liu, The China Post
December 5, 2013, 12:24 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Government officials said yesterday that the real estate market in Taipei City satisfies the conditions to be designated as a housing bubble.
Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) and central bank Deputy Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) attended a Legislative session yesterday to report on the government’s progress in establishing a healthy real estate market.
Legislators yesterday questioned the effectiveness of the government’s measure, as surging housing prices in Taipei City are making it increasingly difficult for youngsters to purchase new houses.
When asked if Taipei’s housing prices are higher than those in other countries, Yang said that housing prices in Taipei are 12 times the average domestic annual income, while global housing prices are usually five times that of average annual income.
…
Did you dump your bonds yet?
ft dot com
December 23, 2013 12:56 pm
Fed ‘taper’ set to cause further damage in bond markets
By Michael Mackenzie and Stephen Foley in New York
Bond investors with a broad exposure to different types of US securities are facing their first negative year of performance since 1999 – and only their third annual loss since 1976.
This poor performance of the US bond market reflects the large rise in benchmark US Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices.
With the Federal Reserve having announced that it will taper its bond buying from January, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield remains just shy of 3 per cent, up sharply from its low of 1.60 per cent in May. As the Fed reduces its purchases of Treasury and mortgage bonds next year, the prospect of further losses beckons as long-term yields rise.
The Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond index in the US – which is dominated by Treasury, mortgage and corporate securities, and acts as the main benchmark for institutional money – is set to record its first negative year of total returns since 1999. In that year, like 2013, equities posted a strong performance.
The benchmark is down 1.8 per cent and, while this is less than its 2.92 per cent fall in 1994, Barclays says its bond market index looks set to record just its third annual negative total return since records began in 1976.
“It’s very rare to see a yearly loss across the broad bond market, and this year the sizeable volatility and rise in long-term Treasury yields has been the culprit,” noted Edward Marrinan, head of credit strategy at RBS Securities. “Investors now see that bonds can lose money – and the Fed’s exit strategy will cause further collateral damage next year, if we see an aggressive rise in Treasury yields.”
…
I put a limit on 590 shares my former company stock at 20% higher than now, good for 60 days. If it reaches target, it is over $23,000 in proceeds.
Most will to to t-bills. Not bonds. Maybe 2 year notes thrown in.
Oh my, this is fun!
An alarming map of the 17 countries with possible housing bubbles
By Max Fisher
December 3 at 7:30 am
Economist Nouriel Roubini is warning that 11 countries are showing indications of potential housing bubbles – an alarming prospect for the global economy, which is still recovering from the aftereffects of burst housing bubbles in the United States and elsewhere. He identifies another six countries in which major urban areas may have housing bubbles.
Those 17 countries with possible housing bubbles are mapped above in red. The lighter-red countries have housing bubbles in major urban areas only. You’ll notice that this map includes very rich countries such as Switzerland and Norway along with enormous rising economies such as India and Indonesia. Perhaps most alarming, if least surprising, Roubini joins the rising chorus of economists warning that China’s housing market is dangerously over-inflated. (He identifies mainland China as well as Hong Kong.)
Here’s the list of countries identified as having possible housing bubbles, from West to East: Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Israel, China (mainland plus Hong Kong), Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
And the countries with possible housing bubbles in major urban areas, West to East: Brazil, United Kingdom (just London), Turkey, India and Indonesia.
…
Video: It’s A Wonderful Lie — 100 Years of the Federal Reserve
http://www.infowars.com/its-a-wonderful-lie-100-years-of-the-federal-reserve/ - 63k - Cached - Similar pages
18 hours ago …
It’s A Wonderful Life Report Censored
Using a bogus “abuse of copyright” claim, YouTube took down our review of It’s a Wonderful Life which exposes bankster behavior
Infowars.com
December 25, 2013
UPDATE: Our Infowars Nightly News free-speech protected analysis of the film It’s A Wonderful Life was taken down by YouTube after only 24 hours. Infowars follows a high standard of copyright recognition developed through many consultations with various lawyers. The censorship of our review is a gross misappropriation of copyright law, which allows companies outside of court to claim copyright infringement on something that clearly isn’t a violation. Our review was clearly a political analysis showing short clips of It’s A Wonderful Life and tying them into current bankster behavior operating through the Federal Reserve, the IMF and the World Bank.
This is a great example of how CSIPA and SOPA would legalize this misappropriation of copyright enforcement that these companies are currently engaging in.
Videos on Youtube are being taken down completely because of mere accusations that they violate copyrights, regardless if the copyright claim is completely unfounded and bogus.
This was a pure political move meant to censor our powerful report exposing the truth on the fractional-reserve, fiat banking system. The full version of It’s A Wonderful Life has been available on YouTube since Feb. 2012 and has over 700,000 views, but YouTube has not taken it down. That’s because the real agenda is not copyright enforcement but rather it’s about censoring the truth and protecting the global cartels within the state-corporate nexus.
We aired our review on the Dec. 24 edition of Alex Jones Show and on the Infowars Nightly News and it is clearly covered by fair use because it analyzes a cultural phenomenon and its historical roots. It’s a wonderful life – for the banksters that brought our country under so much tyranny that could never exist under a system of sound money.
Because our film review is so effective, they took it down. But here it is again in full:
Mr. Henry F. Potter, the president of the Building and Loan Association in the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, has very striking similarities to the modern day banksters working through the Federal Reserve to sap the nation’s wealth.
As we look back over the past hundred years, America has experienced the Great Depression, multiple recessions, stagflation and the loss of 99% of the dollarʼs purchasing power – none of it wouldʼve been possible without the Federal Reserve, creating bubbles and bursting them, enslaving us with debt and destroying our purchasing power and our ability to save through inflation.
Yes, itʼs been a wonderful lie — for the banksters.
And many Americans are left like George Bailey. Facing the collapse of their dreams and financial ruin.
There are striking parallels in Frank Capraʼs Itʼs a Wonderful Life to lies and tricks of the modern banker elite. Human nature doesnʼt change and the greedy elite of 1913 and 2013 look much like Potter.
Please spread the message and make this film go viral.
This article was posted: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 at 3:00 pm
“The US Housing Recovery Is A Mirage”
http://www.businessinsider.com/keith-jurow-us-housing-recovery-mirage-2013-4#ixzz2QpVCDDPz
Remember earlier this year when this was disparaged?
If big corporations can conspire to shut down Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, they can also conspire to keep foreclosures off the market (and make it appear that the housing prices recovered, since foreclosures are generally lower priced).
I don’t bite the bait the MSM puts out. It’s a bait for people to elect new masters. It’s a bait for them to fall for debt traps.
Strong tie between artificial high housing prices and statism.
Smash both by ignoring both.
My sisters have been good to me (kinder, and by that I don’t mean buying me things, as I am emphatic I don’t want them to spend their hard earned money on me and I can manage). Partly because of my job situation and dealing with alarmist doctors.
What they don’t know, is that I have a very comfortable net worth. I wish I could tell them I am very fine so they would not worry about me. Bits and pieces I let them know I do not like debt at all and I focus on paying my bills.
I worry about them instead.
But when anyone (who is not a stranger) knows you have money and the amount, you are toast. I loaned money twice to sisters while I was in my early 20s. Not being paid back taught me a big lesson. I think my dad was pleased back then that I did this loan, to make me lose the money. Not because I lost my money, but because it made me more fiscally conservative.
No relative or friend has any claim on what you earned. And by not loaning, it does not mean you are mean. It does mean you are not sanctioning handouts. I am more stubborn than my dad ever was. One sister was leeching off of my dad. She tried leeching off of me after our dad died. I simply said no. That was over ten years ago. She is self sufficient. I am truly happy for her being self sufficient. I admire her. But her adult children are leeching off of her. She is enabling that. It’s her problem, not mine. But by now she has some awareness of what gift I gave her by saying no.
But when anyone (who is not a stranger) knows you have money and the amount, you are toast.
a stranger is even worse.
No relative or friend has any claim on what you earned.
true, and not only that but if your heirs didn’t know how to care for what you have saved so it can take care of them, it would soon be gone.
the best thing you can do for them is put your wealth in a trust that they can’t touch. let the income from your wealth add to their own. give each a percentage of your choosing. if you have enough, they would not need to work if they chose not to.
don’t let them touch the principle, or it will be destroyed.
“don’t let them touch the principle, or it will be destroyed.”
that is the crux of the biscuit. Trust nothing. Trust nobody.
“She is self sufficient. I am truly happy for her being self sufficient. ”
That is the part that very few understand about saying no.
I don’t ever lend out money except in one case. My niece needed some cash to divorce her worthless husband. I gave her the money and it was money well spent. Not worrying that I would ever see it back, she surprised me and paid in full once back on her feet.
When you appear to be equal to your neighbors you will be left alone. You will be treated cordially when your paths cross. When they see you climb into the $110,000 Porsche they won’t treat you like a brother anymore. At best like a rich Uncle. Drive an economy car to where you regularly hang out.
“And the guy who won a court action against the NSA says texts were send from his phone that he didn’t send”
I have the same name as a research scientist. Over the years I have received a few emails intended for him via gmail (my account is my name, first, last; his is last, first) . A few months ago, I received an email about equipment he was using. It was between him and a branch of the military. I had the whole thread. I replied to them that I was the wrong guy.
When I later logged back into my gmail, all of it was all gone.
Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope your new year is great!
And if you don’t celebrate Christmas I hope your holidays were great or you just enjoyed a slow day.
I don’t know anyone in California who really celebrates Christmas, if by that, takes part in rituals and talks to the sky on this day. I do have relatives in the South who do those things.
One of the most memorable articles that Ben posted years ago on this blog was the one where the lady proclaimed that since the ATM house ran out of money, Christmas was canceled!!. A lot of the posters here had a field day on that one. Nice to be reminded that Christmas should have very little to do with the amount of crap from China one gives or receives.